Yan Xiao shoved the thought aside and went back to the books spread across the table.
The library's special collection room was tiny and smelled like old paper and dust that hadn't been disturbed in years. He'd spent the whole morning hunting for anything real about Kunlun — not the tourist trap, but the hidden gate the old stories whispered about.
He actually found a few leads.
A dusty geography book from the 1920s mentioned a valley in the Kunlun range that local herders refused to go near. They called it the "Silent Place." No birds, no insects, no wind. Just dead quiet.
An 1887 missionary's diary described a stone archway carved with symbols that didn't match any language the man had ever seen. He'd tried to get closer, but his guides had bolted, scared out of their minds.
A 1954 military report was even bleaker: three different reconnaissance teams had been sent to the same set of coordinates. Their gear failed. Compasses spun wildly. One team never came back.
Yan Xiao scribbled the coordinates into his notebook.
"System."
"Ding. Host is speaking."
"I've got coordinates from three different sources. They all point to roughly the same spot. Can you cross-check them?"
A short pause.
"Ding. Working… The coordinates converge on a valley about two hundred kilometers southwest of Golmud. Remote as hell. Mostly unmapped. Satellite images show nothing special — but the System is picking up a faint energy signature. Very faint. Almost nothing. But it's there."
Yan Xiao's pulse picked up.
"Spiritual Qi?"
"Ding. The System cannot confirm from this distance. But the signature doesn't match normal geology. Something is there, Host. The System does not know what."
"It's a start."
He snapped the notebook shut and stood up.
He had a gate to chase, a fiancée to deal with, and a System that kept talking like a sarcastic GPS. Somewhere out there, in the dark between worlds, Qi Yun was still waiting.
He didn't have time to waste.
The next morning Yan Xiao met Chu Hanli at a small coffee shop near the center of Chengdu.
She was already there when he walked in, sitting by the window with a cup of tea that had gone stone cold. Her hair was tied back, and she wore a plain gray dress — nice, but nothing flashy. She looked like she hadn't slept much either.
"You came," she said.
"Yeah."
Chu Hanli nodded toward the chair across from her. Yan Xiao sat down.
Neither of them spoke for a while. The shop was almost empty this early. A barista lazily wiped the counter. Outside, street vendors were setting up and people hurried past on their way to work.
"I'm sorry," Chu Hanli said at last. "For showing up out of nowhere. For dragging you into this. I know we're not… I know there's nothing real between us."
Yan Xiao waited.
"My family wants me to marry Mo Yuan." Her voice stayed flat, careful. "You've heard of him?"
"Enough."
"Then you know what kind of man he is." She stared down at her cold tea. "I can't do it. I won't. But my father and uncles don't care what I want. To them I'm just something to trade for more power."
Yan Xiao said nothing.
"That's why I made that announcement at the engagement party. I said I was already your woman." A faint flush crept up her neck. "It was stupid. Desperate. But I didn't know what else to do."
"And now?"
"Now Mo Yuan is pissed. Not because he actually wants me — he doesn't. He just doesn't want to lose face. The Mo family can't be seen getting rejected by some nobody."
She finally looked up at him.
"They're going to come after you, Yan Xiao. I don't know when, but they will. And you won't be able to handle them alone."
"So what are you suggesting?"
Chu Hanli took a slow breath.
"Marry me."
Yan Xiao stared at her.
"Not for real," she added quickly. "A fake marriage. In name only. Just long enough for me to get out from under my family. Long enough for the Mo family to lose interest and move on to someone else. After that — a year, maybe two — we divorce quietly. No mess."
"You want me to pretend to be your husband."
"Yes."
"For two years."
"Maybe less. I don't know." Her calm cracked just a little. "I don't have anyone else to ask. My cousin Chu Ling tried to help me leave the country, but my uncles found out. They're watching me now. If I try to run again, they'll lock me up."
Yan Xiao leaned back in his chair.
He thought about Qi Yun — the chains, the dark cell, the impossible distance. He thought about the gate in Kunlun, the spiral stone in his pocket, and the faint energy signature the System had found.
He really didn't have time for a fake marriage.
But he also didn't have time to fight the entire Mo family.
"System," he thought. "What do you think?"
A pause.
"Ding. The System has no opinion on Host's marital status. However, the System notes that an alliance with the Chu family could provide resources — money, connections, information — that Host currently lacks. The System also notes that the Mo family is a significant threat. Host cannot fight them alone."
"You're saying I should do it."
"Ding. The System is saying Host should consider the strategic advantages. The System is not saying anything about marriage. Marriage is… complicated."
Yan Xiao almost smiled.
"Chu Hanli," he said, "I need to find someone. Someone important to me. She's not in this world. I don't even know if she's still alive. But I have to try. If I agree to this fake marriage, it doesn't change that. I won't pretend to love you. I won't play the good husband. I'll help you get away from your family, but my priority is finding her."
Chu Hanli's eyes widened slightly.
"Someone from your old world?"
"Yes."
"The one you told Su Qinghe about?"
Yan Xiao's gaze sharpened. "You've been talking to Su Qinghe?"
"I have friends in the Realm Guard. Not many, but enough." She didn't look away. "I asked about you. After you killed the Crimson Winged Serpent, word got around quietly. Not everyone believes you're just some high school kid."
Yan Xiao stayed quiet for a long moment.
"Does that change anything?"
"No." Her voice was steady. "I still need your help. And I can still help you. The Chu family has money, connections, access to information. If you're looking for something hidden, I can make that search a lot easier."
"You're buying my help."
"I'm offering a trade." She met his eyes. "You help me escape the Mo family. I help you find your master."
Yan Xiao thought about it.
The System was right. He couldn't take on the Mo family by himself. And searching for Qi Yun with no money, no allies, and no backup was a dead end.
"One year," he said. "Not two. After one year we divorce. No extensions."
Chu Hanli nodded slowly.
"One year."
"And you don't interfere with my search. Not my methods, not my timeline, nothing."
"I understand."
Yan Xiao stood up.
"Then I'll need to meet your family. Formally. They'll want to see the guy their daughter picked over the Mo family."
Chu Hanli stood as well.
"They'll want to see you. And they'll try to scare you off."
"Let them try."
That evening Yan Xiao sat in his crappy apartment, staring at the spiral stone in his hand.
The day had been exhausting. The coffee shop meeting. Agreeing to a fake marriage with a woman he'd barely met. Another promise piled on top of all the others he was already carrying.
"System."
"Ding. Host is speaking."
"I just agreed to pretend to be married to a woman I've met twice. What the hell am I doing?"
"Ding. Host is forming strategic alliances. The System approves. However, the System notes that Host's personal life has become… complicated."
"You're telling me."
"Ding. The System is also noting that Host has not eaten dinner. Host should eat dinner."
Yan Xiao sighed.
"Yeah, you're not wrong."
He got up and went to the kitchen. Instant noodles again. He really should start buying actual food now that he had some money. Old habits died hard.
While he waited for the water to boil, his phone buzzed.
A message from Zi Xuan.
"I don't know what Hanli wanted to talk to you about, but whatever it is, be careful. The Mo family has eyes everywhere. Even here in Chengdu."
He typed back: "I'm always careful."
Her reply came fast: "Liar."
He smiled despite himself.
The noodles were ready. He ate them standing over the sink, staring out the window at the darkening sky.
Somewhere west of the city, past the lights and the mountains, that gate was waiting.
And somewhere beyond it, Qi Yun was waiting too.
He would find her.
One way or another.